US House GOP just not rational

We have often heard congressional Republicans express their deep concerns over the nationís debt.

But for many Republicans, particularly the extremists in the House, those concerns are not really linked to any practical solutions.

Imagine having an enormous skyscraper sitting in the middle of an idyllic, residential neighborhood, and imagine that there is general consensus that it should come down, because it is a monstrosity and a threat to the character of the neighborhood.

You can bet that whatever steps are taken to bring down that skyscraper, assurances will be made that the process does not destroy the neighborhood.

We wouldnít, for example, nuke the skyscraper.

Yet the nuclear option has been pretty much what Republicans in Congress have been proposing over the past few years to deal with the nationís debt.

And they are now threatening to stage a repeat of their 2011 debt-ceiling battle, which resulted in the downgrade of the nationís credit rating.

Under law, any increase in the federal debt has to be approved by Congress. Historically the ceiling has been raised with bipartisan support without much drama.

Over the past two years, however, with Republicans having the majority in the House, the vote has been contentious, with Republicans using it to blackmail the president.

Essentially, these Republicans have been threatening the economic stability of the country and to deny basic services to millions of Americans unless they get what they want: Dramatic, and what many would characterize as crippling and damaging spending cuts.

In 2011, this strong-arm tactic produced about $1.2 trillion in domestic spending cuts, without any revenue increases.

Fresh off losing a stare-down with President Obama over increasing taxes on the very rich, these Republicans are now seeking greater spending cuts, targeting such programs as Medicare, Social Security and a bunch of services for the poor and elderly.

Mr. Obama has said he is not interested in another debt-ceiling fight, but he still speaks as if he is dealing with rational and reasonable people.

He is not.

According to Matt Bai, writing for The New York Times Magazine, President Obama and Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner essentially had a handshake deal on a debt-reduction plan that would have reduced discretionary spending by about $1.2 trillion over 10 years, and cut another $200 billion from a bunch of programs over that same time period.

The president also agreed to cut some $250 billion from Medicare in the next 10 years and another $800 billion in the following decade.

ďThe administration had endorsed another $110 billion or so in cuts to Medicaid and other health care programs, with $250 billion more in the second decade.

ďAnd in a move certain to provoke rebellion in the Democratic ranks, Obama was willing to apply a new, less generous formula for calculating Social Security benefits, which would start in 2015,Ē Mr. Bai wrote.

The sticking point, however, was that Mr. Obama was seeking a minimum of $1.16 trillion in new revenue, a nonstarter for the extremists in the Republican Party.

But this was not a deal to turn down if you are a reasonable legislator interested in significant debt reduction, stabilizing and growing the nationís economy and attending to the general welfare of Americans.

But, as I have said, we are not dealing with reasonable people on the Republican side in the House of Representatives.

These people are not seeking solutions. They want mayhem, and unfortunately the worst may be yet to come.